Leon scanned his surroundings, his pistol firmly gripped and his senses on high alert. But above the noise of growls and the hurried footsteps of infected villagers, the only thing that mattered to him was the soft sound of your breathing, uneven and nervous, just behind him.

"Stay behind me," he said in a low, commanding voice without turning around. His tone left no room for argument, but there was something more to it: a visceral, almost desperate sense of protection.

You, accustomed to the pressures of being the president's son, had never experienced anything like this. Everything in this place was a nightmareexcept Leon. There was something about the way he looked at you, how his every movement seemed calculated not just to survive but to ensure that you made it out of this alive, no matter what.

There was something deeper, something he would never dare to say out loud. You were the only person who had managed to break through the walls Leon had built over the years. There was something about you that made him feel like everything he had lost, everything he had suffered, was worth it if he could protect you.